Reviews by Bonis:

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Pours a deep rich amber with a thinner but well sustained slight off white head,just great color clarity going on here.Wow the aromas are mind blowing,big sweet caramel and vanilla with a toastiness from the barrel,it has almost a pecan pie-like element to it to go along with dark fruit dipped in vanilla tinged bourbon.Mellow but full feel in the mouth,quite creamy with low carbonation.Vanilla and caramel flavors,almost like spiced rum ball,(if you have ever had one you know what Iam talkin about),there is this faint nuttiness that keeps me harkening back to pecan pie.Damn Thirsty Dog have hit home runs in their barrel aged beers,do more!

Big thanks to Kevin for this gem. It's got a dark and seductive, caramel colored body with some decent edge clarity; the middle is too dark-hued to be translucent. Over the course of a few minutes, the creamy, beige head settles down to a sifting skin that quietly sifts across the top of the brew. No lacing, but the beer has some nice legs that show up when tilting the glass.

Whoof... The aroma is straight up whiskey, at least right away. I'm talking Jack & Coke, hold the Coke and double down kind of whiskey; drop by drop, through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal. A sturdy, yet underlying malt body can be found beneath the heavy liquor and oak; faintly sweet with hints of caramel, toffee, and a touch of dark fruit.

I'm pretty stoked to find out that the booze isn't nearly as hefty on the palate as it is on the nose, or this would have been one tough mamma jamma to trudge through. Some "dark" sweetness jumps out first and lays the groundwork; burnt brown sugars, caramel, and mild date-like fruits topped with a light cocoa powder covering.

Now imagine all of that being fed to you on a dry, oak slab. Barrel notes are heavy; strong wood and heavy oak with a faint reminder of vanilla. Bourbon/whiskey is of course present, but again, not so overpowering like the aroma made me think it would be. It does get boozier with warmth, but never reaches unapproachable levels, though the nose remains boozily-stringent. Heavy bodied with a lightly sticky mouth feel and reasonable carbonation.

Very nice barrel aged Scotch Ale that drinks pretty nicely. The bourbon pounds its chest and flexes hard in the aroma, yet still shows you that it has a softer side when you finally decided to take a sip. It's like when you find out that the 240 pound, weight lifting, muscle head jock cries whenever he watches the Notebook. Get your Kleenex ready, bro. Thanks again, Kevin.

A - dark rich brown color, like a stout. S - nutty hint, strong coffee stout aroma. Hint of alcohol. T - tasted like a stout with a smack of yummy bourbon at the end. M - Thick and rich, no complaints. O - about what I expected, not gonna have to drink to many of these to enjoy a good night.

A malt bomb to say the least. Very sweet to start, and the bourbon seems to make it even more sweet—not to the point of being cloying, though the bottle would be better shared. The Wee Heavy seems to be lost a bit or perhaps just clouded over by the bourbon barrel character. A good sip regardless.

Having a growler of this to enjoy @ home is a real treat! Thanks to Wade-O for bringing this over from the Grapevine @ Baxter Village.

A little darker than normal, as expected from the ol bourbon barrel doi g its thing. In fact, it's darn near black! A thin layer of head stays a while--this big boy beckons like a mythological siren.... The nose is straight bourbon. It's like I've hanged myself upside down in a bourbon barrel. Soggy wet oak with vanilla undertones bombard the malty wee heavy. The taste confirms an earthy, bourbony goodness. This makes me wonder why more wee heavys aren't BBA. I'm not really a fan of the basic style, but it's as if it hugs the bourbon influence with lots of love and kisses! That sweet oaky bourbon really imparts its influence to what might otherwise be a malty mess. I can't help. It compare it to the template of a Backwoods Bastard...and this one hold its own! I'd like to try 'em side-by-side. A deliciously done dog from Thirsty, Ohio! :-)

Bourbon, caramel, and vanilla explode from the bottle just from opening it. In the glass, dark caramels are followed by oaky, boozy bourbon. Notes of vanilla waft into the nose. Pumpernickel bread and dark bread fruits appear along with hints of toffee. Rather soft. Complex and shifting. Great to explore.

The taste starts out with luscious caramels on oak. Dense, dark, and somewhat dry bread. A bit of molasses. Smooth, rich, deep, and complex. Cashmere. The back end of the swallow really shows off the bourbon and ABV, along with a bit of a burn into the tummy. It seems a tad hot, and I imagine a year or two of aging would mellow that quite nicely. The good news is that it's easy to adjust to this as I get into the glass. The finish lingers with brown sugar, dark fruit, and vanilla, but it's soft and not at all cloying.

This is simply an exceptional beer, and a wonderful expression of a Wee Heavy. It's hard to think of something that needs to be tweaked. They set out to create a beer whose purpose was to spend almost a year in bourbon barrels rather than simply be a barrel-aged version of an offered style, and they've succeeded in spades. Aging this in the cellar may well make it perfect.